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A Kung Fu-creed is stolen from the Chang Chuen clan, and the eldest
sister (Essie Lin Chia) of the clan decides to split the just orphaned
baby twins of a couple htat was somehow involved in the theft up to
eventually retrieve the creed once they have grown to adulthood and want
to avenge their parents. And to make extra sure of that, Eldest Sister
brings up the male twin herself while she gives the female part to her
arch enemy, hero Lian.
Soon, the girl, named Siao Lu (and played by Lily ho once she has
reached adulthood) is stolen from Lian by a gang of crooks (for whatever
reason) who teach her Kung Fu (for whatever reason), but she still keeps
in touch with Lian and learns about her parents killer, Chang Tzai, and
after she has taught her crooked foster parents/Kung Fu-teachers a lesson
(yup, she has since become a Kung Fu-master), she, disguised as a man,
sets out to find her parents' killer ... who seems to have vanished from
earth, but instead she finds the young and pretty girl Xin Chian, whose
life she saves and who falls in love with her, thinking Siao Lu's a man -
much to the dismay of Xin Chian's brother Hua Yu Chu (Kao Yuen), who
detests Siao Lu just beause she knows hero Lian, whom he thinks to be the
killer of his parents (a no-prize for everyone who has guessed by now that
Siao Lu and Hua Yu Chu are actually brother and sister). Repeatedly, Hua,
by and large an upright man, tries to kill Siao Lu, but for one, Siao Lu
can take good care of herself, and then Xin Chian does her best to
intervene.
Eventually, Siao Lu finds out about one hero Chang, who seems to be
mixed up in some very illegal dealings but still trying to pass off as an
honourable, upright citizen ... and he fools everybody, everybody but Siao
Lu, who spends her time spying on him and thwarting his schemes whenever
she can ... not knowing yet that hero Chang is exactly the Chang Zhai,
killer of her parents, she is looking for.
Before long, Hua Yu Chu and his sister Xin Chian are guests of Chang,
and since Siao Lu likes Xin chian and respects Hua Yu Chu as an honourable
man, even though he wants to kill her, she tries to convince them that
Chang is really a villain ... without much success at first - until Xin
Chian is dying from a poisoned meal meant for Hua Yu Chu, and somehow no
antidote can be found in the whole town - only Siao Lu manages to steal
some from Chang's secret headquarters and bring it to Xin Chian just in
time, ultimately saving her life again.
So eventually, Siao Lu and Hua Yu Chu team up and defeat and kill the
villain ... and now they should be friends forever, right ?
Wrong, because Eldest Sister, Hua Yu Chu's master, insists that he
fights Siao Lu to the death for the Kung Fu creed, and even though he has
since come to like and respect Siao Lu, he doesn't dare to contradict his
master.
So ultimately the two engage in mortal combat, though each is holding
back out of respect for the other ... until at one point in battle it
seems to be inevitable that either kills the other ... when Younger Sister
of the Chang Chuen Clan intervenes, claiming this has gone far enough ...
and as a thank you, she is thrown off a cliff by her own sister. Now both
Siao Lu and Hua Yu Chu are seeing the real villain in the game, and
ultimately, Siao Lu buries her sword in Eldest Sister's body ... ouch !
A nice martial arts/swordsplay film that tells its (over)complex story
with recommendable ease, features many original plottwists and sufficient
action along the way, and is garnered by a light (if a tad old-fashioned)
directorial style. The only thing which I (and probably most Westerners)
do not get is, hwo can anyone confuse pretty Lily Ho, with her female
looks and voice, for a boy (a plot device found in many Hong Kong films by
the way). But even if Lily Ho can't convince as a man, her performance as
the film's daring and carefree hero(ine) comes off pretty refreshingly
well and adds to the positive overall effect of the film.
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